METRO 2033 : In Seoul

Chapter 1. Surface of Seoul (3)

It was the sound of footstep of something beyond question. Judging from the sound, the owner of the foot seemed quite rapid. The nerves all over the body seemed to be burning. He felt his hair stand up even in the gas mask. Is it one? If so, he can just put a bullet in its forehead with the K5 automatic pistol that he brought in backpack. He wondered if there really exists a 'forehead' for it.

Tap, tap, tap.

Not one.

He had goose bumps on his arms.

At least three, he guessed. Of course, it may be just a little bit of a giant rat, but carelessness is the best way to death directly. He began to descend cautiously. Heart was beating fast, and he could feel the adrenaline rising. Even a finger began to feel tense.

A constant echo of light footsteps made horror atmosphere. Fear pierced Doyun's heart. The stairs looked so peaceful when coming up, now looked like underground stairs of charnel house. Fortunately, he came down safely to the lobby on the first floor and looked around him like a shadow on the wall. The underground was dangerous, but the ground was even more dangerous. The K2 automatic rifle hanging over his right shoulder felt heavy weighing on him.

Click. The sound of the gun unlocking the safety mode was exceptionally loud.

The stories of mutations on the ground that his father Ahn told him when he was young came to mind. At that time, he had heard interesting stories such as a three-headed lizard or a mutant raccoon that eats pickers. However, he felt in his heart that the feeling was completely different when he faced them in front of him.

'Please, if they are just a rat...'

Reiterating this remark in his head, he quickly raised rifle and fell down. But the thing that made to surprise him was only a small mouse that came out of the wreckage. He tried to move with a deep sigh of relief.

Then.

Suddenly something flashed past him, snatched the mouse and disappeared into the ruins. It was an incredibly fast and sharp attack. Just a few drops of blood had been scattered over the place where the mouse was. He was frozen in place. It was not long before he encountered mutants in practice, and it was even the first time he had encountered them alone at such close range.

"It's not in a good mood..."

And at last he could see its true identity of it. It was a creature he had never seen or dared to imagine. It was an odd-looking beast that no one could tell which group of creatures to be classified even the most capable biologist.

The oddly open mouth had sharp teeth and a large bump on its back. It had a glossy wrinkled skin, and its mouth was stained with the blood of the rat it had just eaten. Angular head was swollen like a tumor in the twitching neck muscles, and the blue eye glowed in the grotesquely large eyes. The size did not look bigger than humans. But at least it looked much more powerful than Doyun.

It hid itself in the dusk for a moment. Before he knew it, the mutant arrived at the entrance of square escalator and melted into the background. Besides, it wasn't one. He looked around. Why did he finally notice? A considerable number of mutants began to come into view in the early morning sun. Surprisingl, it turned 90 degrees across Doyun. Not even a small sound came out.

Suddenly the mutant who had just snatched the mouse stood up on its feet. Even two-legged walking was no longer an exclusive property of humans. Maybe it's the leader, Doyun thought. As if it was a sign, all the rest stood up. At a moderate estimate, it seemed to be five or six. He thought it too much to deal with with a gun. He felt like his mind was going blank. So...this is the end?